Friday, November 09, 2007

Nimrod Fiasco Costing Lives

When last sighted, it was due to cost us £3.5bn for 12 aircraft- £290m each. Since they were originally supposed to cost £130m each, they've more than doubled in price. And given they still aren't actually ready yet, the meter's still running.

But even more concerning than the money is the delay. They were originally due to come into service more thanfour years ago in April 2003. On current plans (which may well get stretched out again) they will not now be delivered until September 2010. That's more than seven years late.

And it's proving a fatal delay.

Because RAF crews are still having to manage with the decrepit Nimrod MR2. They are flying combat missions over Afghanistan and they are clearly pushing these 50 year old planes way beyond the limits of safety.

Last year 14 British service personnel died when an MR2 exploded in mid-air after a fuel leak. And on Monday, another crew had the narrowest escape when fuel again leaked into the bomb bay.

An official enquiry by Qinetic into last year's accident reported:

"..sealant used to maintain joints on wing panels "peeling like masking tape", repair teams having to use out of date manuals and equipment and of the "considerable loss of expertise and experience as trade specialists have left the team".

The report says that in some cases, leaks reported while planes have been flying on operations cannot be detected by the ground maintenance crews. This crucial point is echoed in this week's incident report, in which the author notes that it was impossible "to replicate reported airborne occurrence" using "current ground testing procedures". But the Qinetiq report makes observations which point to the one overriding reason why critics argue the Nimrod should not still be flying: its age. "The recurrence of significant fuel leaks," it says, "may be taken as an indication of the age-related deterioration of the basic sealing systems."

Once again I feel ashamed that we are asking our guys to fight a war with inadequate, dangerous kit. It is indefensible.

To a non-expert taxpayer, the whole MRA4 programme has always seemed barmy: huge expense, vastly complex, and still only a refurbishment of an aircraft that is literally a rebuilt Comet (first flight 1949).

As the Bloke said in the vid, we should give up the ludicrous and dangerous fantasy that we can build highly sophisticated and pricey military kit like this for ourselves, and buy American.

And right now, today, we must ground those Nimrods.

Short-term we'll have to beg borrow and steal from our NATO "allies" to provide whatever reconnaissnace we can cobble together in Afghanistan (and if we can't, we should simply pull back).

Longer term we need to can the MR4 and buy some reliable modern planes from the Yanks. Or better still, some of their unmanned drones. With Sterling at $2.09, it's a no brainer.

PS You can watch the BBC Panorama programme on the Nimrod- On A Wing and a Prayer- on YouTube- here's Part 1, with links to Parts 2 & 3.

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ABOUT BOM

Despite all the talk of cuts, government still consumes nearly half our national income. Yet many tens of billions of its spending is wasted, with taxpayers made to pick up the tab for a depressing array of overpriced sub-standard services. This is money we can no longer afford, and our National Debt is already at danger level.

If we're to avoid further decades of stagnation and austerity we urgently need to find another way. Exposing and understanding the wastefulness of government is a necessary step in the right direction.